I'm expecting a baby girl on New Years Day. She's our third. We have a daughter, FinleighAudrey and a son PaulDavid. Our current frontrunner is Elsa (nn Elsie or Elle). Its a bit of an homage to Finleigh's twin sister Eliana (nn Ellie) who passed away from a heart defect before she was born. But now, we've started thinking about Dessa (nn Dess or Dee). It would be an homage to my Dad (DavidEarlSmith - often called Des). He passed away last year. Also, my husband's grandfather was Desmond. We also like that "Dec" means ten. The baby will either be born in December... or in the first month of 2010.

Dessa is so cute! Elsa is too! Dee for a nn for Dessa is ADORABLE! I actually have a girl named something close to Elsa: Elsie (her real name is Elizabeth, but the family calls her Elsie). I really hope you continue with the figuring-out-names thing.

I voted for Elsa, because Dessa, while pretty, feels like a nickname for Odessa to me.

I also worry that Dessa will be mistaken for the more popular Tessa. (When I say it out loud, Dessa kind of sounds like someone with a cold saying "Tessa." That may just be me, though!)

Good luck! :-)

October 3rd, 2009, 01:47 AM

cora

Re: Another Name Has Been Proposed - Dessa vs. Elsa

To add to the above, I'm really sorry about your baby and your father passing away.

Have you thought about using E.D. or D.E. initials to honor them? What about Pearl, which contains the name "Earl?" (I see that your son already has the name David as his middle name, so if your baby girl has "Earl" in her name, both of his names will be honored.)

My greatgrandmother was Pearl. So my first cousin is NataliePearl. I don't really want to use the same middle name. I'm pretty set on Julia as the middle name. It doesn't work great with any name that ends in a.